Day 4 Foundation Weekend, SCA2014

Well. What a trip this has been, in more ways than one. Am sitting at LAX airport right now, waiting for my flight to take off for home. Had some serious insights today, which for sure will make for some blog posts in the future. Thank you Kenny for being my partner in crime for that last coach session. 🙂

Me and LisaHotel CarmelHad lunch with Lisa, my wonderful room mate at Hotel Carmel, and fellow SCA2014 attendee, before going to the hotel, finishing the packing, and took of on the Big Blue Bus of Santa Monica. Real nice that, can’t beat a one dollar ticket to get to the air port, can you?Big blue busLAX sunsetLAX

Have a long journey ahead of me, and luckily, it’s evening now, so I hope I will be able to sleep on the flight. Right now though, I just want to be at hoooooooome with my family! You know that feeling?

Day 3 Foundation Weekend, SCA2014

Started the morning doing a sample CoachWalk with my roommate, a really nice experience along the Santa Monica Beach, walking into the rising sun. Not to mention the fact that Ethan Hawke came running past us. So there’s my celebrity spotting checked off the to-to-list for my LA-visit.

At Supercoach Academy, Cathy Casey and Mark Howard have been our catalysts for the day, providing ample space for a lot of deep conversations. Lots of laughter, recognition, insights. But right now, I just feel confused. The lovely prospect of that is that my thinking will clear, like a snow globe, and then there will be clarity of mind.

Muddled mindAt least, that’s what I am counting on right now. So that’s it for me. But please tell me, what you do when you feel like you have a muddled mind?

Day 2 Foundation Weekend, SCA2014

Another day done, 2 days to go of Foundation Weekend. Time flies when you are having fun! And I must say, so far it’s really been a treat. And luckily, even though we are ending early today, there’s more to come, since there’s this thing tonight between seven and nine, that I am planning to attend.

Attending SCA2014

I am very glad that SCA is set up in such a way that it gives room for plenty of in between spaces. The breaks, the one-on-one-conversations and coaching sessions as well as the long lunch break, gives room for me to land. To pick up on the analogy of ensuring a good foundation, the in between spaces gives my foundation time to settle.

Do you ensure you give yourself that type of space in your ordinary day-to-day life?

Day 1 of Foundation Weekend, SCA2014

It’s been a full day, but still, I come away with a sense of calm. That feeling is helped along by my realization that there’s another 15 days to go, in total, before Supercoach Academy 2014  comes to a close in September. So there is plenty of time to create loads of wonderful conversations, meet with all these magnificent people, and get to a deeper level of my understanding of the three principles of Mind, Conciousness and Thought. And that, my friends, makes me one happy camper!Morning walk

Morning walk on beachI started the day with a walk along the Santa Monica beach, and ended it in a similar fashion. Can life get much better than this?

Icy magic!

IMG_5841Write this sitting on the flight from Zürich to Los Angeles, and after having watched two movies and had lunch (or dinner? Who knows aboard an airplane!?), I am getting a bit restless. With seven hours to go, I opened the window blinds by my window seat (all blinds are turned down to make people sleep), looked out and was instantly wowed!IMG_5838

The beauty of Greenland underneath us is amazing. Untouched snow for as far as I could see, cold Atlantic water speckled with ice sheaths, the setting sun (coming from the other side of the plane though) making the sky turn into a fiery pink, purple and blue canvas.

Greenland - at winterHow many years until Greenland becomes, yearlong, what it’s name indicate?

Thanks for the visit, Serrano Cougars!

My high school friend Julie, from Lincoln, Nebraska, is someone I got to know 20+ years ago, and lost touch with a handfull of years after that. However, thanks to Facebook, we connected again a few years ago, and since she lives within driving distance of Santa Monica where I will be attending Supercoach Academy, I asked if I could come visit. I have been, since Sunday, and it’s been great!

IMG_5860Julie is a teacher at a 7th and 8th grade school called Serrano middle school, in San Bernardino, and since I am so interested in school development, I asked if I could join her for a day at work. She asked the principal, who approved it, so that’s where I spent all day Tuesday.Serrano Cougars

I see many similarities between the Swedish and US school system – and a whole bunch of differences as well, of course. The conversations I’ve had with Julie and her colleagues makes me even more determined to continue my quest for a globally changed school system though! But right now is not the time to dig into that. But more reflections will surely come.

As I write this, it’s still ”yesterday” where I am at, i.e. Tuesday, and I will just post this (on Wednesday, no less!) before going to bed. Tomorrow Julie will drive me down to Santa Monica where the real adventure starts on Thursday – Supercoach Academy here I come!

Are you gearing up for any adventures this year?

Stolt över min utveckling!

Fick ett mail från Susanne Tobiasson, 20140111-135042.jpgen fantastisk kvinna jag lärt känna tack vare #skolvåren. Under hösten har jag coachat Susanne, och i samband med ett jobbyte nu vid terminsstart så mailade hon mig sin reflektion av höstens coachingresa.

Hennes ord gjorde mig oerhört berörd, och jag frågade om jag fick lov att dela hennes reflektion. Tacksam för att jag fick det! Frågade även om hon ville vara namngiven eller anonym och fick ett rappt svar att hon självfallet ska vara namngiven, för hon är ju stolt över sin utvecklig. Och det, min vän, det ska du verkligen vara!!

Så här skriver Susanne:

Tack för en fantastisk coachhöst Helena. Det är knappt jag förstår hur stort det påverkat mig. Jag har ju pratat om hur osynkad jag är i min bild av mig själv och att jag i många lägen aldrig tvekar det minsta på att jag fixar allt, men i andra är helt utan tro på min förmåga. Det glappet är väldigt mycket mindre nu och det syns verkligen i jobb-bytet.

Du är magiskt bra på det du gör!! Det du lyft upp och som vi pratat om är verkligen genomlyst och satt åt sidan.

– Susanne Tobiasson

Jag gläds åt människans utveckling, ibland synliggjord, ibland dold, någon gång går den med raketfart och andra stunder går det långtsamt långsamt. Men utvecklas, det gör vi. Allesammans. Oavsett om vi tar hjälp eller inte. Finns inga rätt eller fel där. Men jag vet, av personlig erfarenhet, att professionell coaching verkligen kan göra att man levlar upp rejält. Men det kan så klart ske på andra sätt också.

Vad är ditt bästa knep för att levla upp i din personliga utveckling?

The world’s ugliest girl? No way!

Have you ever watched Lizzie Velasquez speak? I have, thanks to the magic of YouTube. Stumbled across her a few months ago, and was touched. She’s been called the world’s ugliest girl, but in my view she’s just the opposite, she’s one of the most beautiful human beings alive today.

Recently, her TEDxAustinWomen have been doing the rounds in my social media sphere, and I just had to watch her again. If you have 12 minutes to spare, I promise you’ll agree with me, that those are perhaps the best spent 12 minutes of your day:

My takeaway message from this magnificent lady is that strength and beauty comes in so many different shapes. Lizzies physical frailty makes her strength and beauty so much more vibrant in my view.

What’s your takeaway message?

Familjehygge!

Vi hade ätit klart och satt kvar och snackade hela familjen, och kastade in allvar och skoj i en salig blandning. Barnen berättade gåtor ur minnet och när de tröt så tog de vars en smartfån och fortsatte.

Ivrigt läste familjens yngste upp följande gåta:20140111-092938.jpg

Alla dåliga böcker har en god sida. Vilken?

Storasyster, mor och far kliade sig alla i huvudet och kläckte väl ur oss lite olika förslag, men lyckades inte svara rätt.

Triumferande utbrast då sagde yngling:

Visa svaret!

Och där var det kört. Oj, vilket skratt vi fick, tillsammans. Om du är nyfiken på svaret så får du kolla det själv här!

Det där var verkligen en härlig stund tillsammans. Vi äter nästan alltid middag tillsammans, men ofta så piper barnen iväg så fort de ätit klart. Men inte denna kvällen. De blev sittandes, liksom vi vuxna, och det känns så himla skönt med den typen av otvunget familjehygge. Det blir ett härligt minne för mig att bära med mig när jag far iväg på äventyr, över stora havet!

Har du för vana att tanka goda minnen?

My heart goes boom boom boom

There is a great Swedish singer by the name of Miss Li, and in one of her love songs, she sings just that: And my heart goes boom, boom, boom…

That is what my heart did just now, go boom boom boom, but for other reasons than feelings of love though. I am heading for the US to participate in Michael Neill’s SuperCoach Academy, with more than 50 other participants, from all over the world. I really look forward to the experience, and I am in the midst of finishing of my To Do-list prior to departure in a days time.

That’s when it struck me. I haven’t gotten my ESTA = Electronic System for Travel Authorization. Swedes don’t need a visa for the US, but the travel authorization is mandatory.

AND I HADN’T GOTTEN IT!

Yikes. THAT’S when my heart starting pounding in my chest. Boom, boom, boom.
Read on the applications page to please apply 72 hours before departure. Since I had exactly 26 hours until departure, that sure didn’t make my heart go any less boom I tell you! Anyway, I quickly got my passport, started to fill in the application, page after page, came to the payments section, paid…. and finally my heart could start to slow down.

AUTHORIZATION APPROVED

It wasn’t flashing red on my screen, but that’s how I saw it, let me tell you:My approved ESTA application

Phew! The adrenalin rush is waning, and I will merrily go about my day, getting ready for the big adventure, and hoping I haven’t forgotten too much else…

Know the feeling?